The Dinner Party
by SilverRavenPrincess
Summary: Ted goes to a dinner party, facing the crowd for the first time since he got out of rehab.


Disclaimer: No, I do not own any part or faction of Queer As Folk. You guys know I don't, because if I did, I wouldn't be writing stories about them!!  
  
*  
  
"Do you know you're beautiful?" Emmett stepped into the room, twirling about as he sung the Sarah Brightman song.  
  
"Are you talking to me, or are you just singing?" Ted muttered lazily from the bed.  
  
"Of course I am talking about you, silly!" Emmett smiled down at Ted on the bed. "Now, come on. We're late to Deb's, and you don't even have any pants on."  
  
"Emmett...do we really have to go tonight? I still don't feel like facing everyone."  
  
"Of course we have to go. The party IS in your honor. My great-aunt Trudy always used to say 'If you don't go to your own party, you just don't have any manners at all.'" Emmett smiled. "She is quite a lady, my aunt."  
  
"And just how many aunts do you have?"  
  
"Enough to come in handy when I need to prove a point. Here," he said, throwing a shirt and a pair of jeans at Ted. "Wear these, you will be sensational. Plus, after we get done fattening you up my pretty, you will have some breathing space." Ted only groaned. Emmett walked back out of the room.  
  
Ted pulled on his clothes and looked at his reflection in the mirror. "Well, Ted, I guess this is it. Face the music, as they say. Maybe even Em's relative says that. One of them has to." He finished straightening his collar and joined Emmett in the kitchen.  
  
"Ted, you look sensational!!"  
  
"Thanks. Now let's go before I can lock myself up somewhere."  
  
* "Teddy! Come on!"  
  
"I don't want to. They all hate me anyway."  
  
Emmett sighed. "Stop being such a silly goose. Come inside, it's freezing out here!" he said, pulling his coat collar tighter around him. Ted slowly walked up to meet Emmett on the doorstep. Emmett pressed the doorbell a few times, almost immediately being greeted.  
  
Debbie wrapped Ted up in her arms. "We are so glad to have you back with us." She backed away from him and slapped him across the back of the head. "Now, don't you ever do that again!"  
  
Ted rubbed his head. "I'll try my best, Debbie." He took off his coat and placed it neatly on the coat rack. Emmett, watching him, smiled softly. He's really back. I almost can't believe it. Tears started to spring to his eyes, but he quickly blinked them away. Now, Emmett, don't start acting like a crybaby at Teddy's celebration.  
  
"Now, you two are the last to show, so go ahead and get a seat." Ted and Emmett walked to the table and sat down.  
  
"Nice to see you back," several voices said.  
  
"Yeah, it's good to be here and not at that repulsive rehab."  
  
"Well, maybe if---" Melanie was cut off by Lindsey, who kicked her under the table. "We are glad to see you back, Ted." She stared at him for a long while, taking in the bags under his eyes, and the first strands of gray starting to appear in his thick hair. Ted began to squirm under her hawk-like gaze. He finally broke the contact with her by scooting his chair back.  
  
"Where are you going, Teddy?" Emmett asked.  
  
"Nowhere. Just getting a little more comfortable." At that moment, Debbie and Vic walked over to the table with large, steaming bowls of delicious smelling food. The crowd dug in eagerly, all ravenous. Everyone was silent for the next couple of minutes as they ate, pausing only for breath. Finally, Justin leaned back in his chair and sighed. "Man, Debbie, but you sure know how to cook."  
  
Vic cleared his throat and smiled.  
  
"You too, Vic." Vic laughed. "Well, it is nice to know that someone appreciates me!"  
  
Ted elbowed Emmett in the side. "You were right, I did need these clothes. I feel like a Thanksgiving turkey."  
  
"Well, you look like the celery sticks sitting next to it. Maybe a few more meals like this, and you can start fitting into your own clothes again." Emmett kissed Ted's temple, and then wiped away the sauce that he put there. "I love you."  
  
"I love you too, Em." Now Ted was the one to feel the tears coming. He blinked furiously, but the only thing it did for him was to draw attention.  
  
"What's wrong, Schmitt? Oregano in your eyes?" Brian gazed lazily at him. Ted started laughing.  
  
"What's so funny?" Deb asked from down the table.  
  
"Nothing, really. I'm just so...grateful." Ted felt a tear slide down his cheek, but he didn't care. "Thank you so much for doing this," he continued. He put his face in his hands and started to sob controllably. Emmett put a hand on his back. Surprisingly, though, Melanie was the one to get up from the table and come over. She put her arm around Ted's shoulder. He jerked away from her touch, but she held on to him. She started whispering to him, and eventually he got up from the table, his face red and blotchy. Melanie followed him out of the front door, closing it behind them. Emmett rose from the table, looking to the door anxiously.  
  
"Let them be. They need time to talk about all of this, too." Lindsey said. Emmett looked at her, and then sat back down. "I just hope she doesn't get too aggressive."  
  
* Melanie held Ted for a few moments as he sobbed uncontrollably into her shoulder. He finally calmed down again and lifted his head. "You are the last person I thought I would be talking to tonight, much less being comforted by."  
  
"Well, life's like that."  
  
"Melanie, I am so sorry. I know that what I did was wrong, all right? I just don't know what to do to make it up to you, because I know that I hurt you."  
  
"Ted." She paused for a moment, gathering her thoughts. "What you have been doing is great. You managed to get back on your feet, and you seem to be doing pretty well. I am really proud of you."  
  
"But?"  
  
"But...I don't know. It just doesn't seem like I should be forgiving you this soon." She stood in silence for a few moments, letting the chilly wind tousle her short hair. "You inflicted a pretty deep wound on me too. And not just because of Gus's college fund. I feel..."  
  
"Sad? Ashamed? Angry? Violent? Look, Mel, I know that I deserve to be punched in the face right now. I wish someone would, just so I would know that someone was actually taking their rightful revenge."  
  
Melanie shook her head. "As tempting as I think that would be, that's not quite what I want to do. I feel...betrayed. You are the best fucking friend that I have, and feels kind of like you ran off because I...we weren't good enough." Melanie wrapped her arms around herself, shuddering.  
  
Ted wrapped his arms around her. "Mel," he said softly, "it isn't any of you that was the problem. It was me. And I realize now that the people who love me are the only thing that I need to feel good." Ted laughed. "That, and maybe a little Italian opera."  
  
"Good." She put her arms around him and held him tightly. "You know," she said, muffled against him, "this is about the most hetero thing I have done in a while."  
  
"You? Hetero? Never!" They broke up and went back inside.  
  
Everyone looked at them curiously as they sat back down at the table. Emmett and Lindsey looked at each other, and then their partners.  
  
Ted glanced around the table and rubbed his stomach. "So, what's for dessert?"  
  
Everyone laughed. "This," Justin said. He leapt up from the table and tackled Ted. Everyone else followed suit, until there was nothing but a pile of people on the floor.  
  
*  
  
I hoped you liked my story! I don't know how good it was. Please review!! 


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